SATURDAY is Scottish Cup final day for Dunfermline Knights and skipper Gowtham Rai (right) wants his team to repeat the form which has seen them beat two of Scotland's best sides as they bid to capture the national trophy for the first time. The Knights have produced their best cricket in the 'Scottish' after a series of inconsistent performances in the Premiership this season.

The venue for their joust with Uddingston is Lochlands Park, Arbroath, and it promises to be a very even match.

When the teams met in the league, in June at McKane Park, Uddie won by five runs thanks to a fantastic piece of fielding by Calum McLeod which ran out the Fifers' last man.

Rai and team manager Tom Gibson are very aware of the side's inconsistencies this season.

Said the captain, "The remarkable thing is that this is our second Scottish Cup final in three years but we are all too aware of the fact that some of our league performances have not been good enough.

"Our batting at times has been very ordinary but in other games we have batted excellently so we have to ensure that we produce our best form this Saturday.

"It is true to say that we have fashioned most of our good performances in this competition as we have beaten the likes of Grange and Arbroath in the earlier stages, so it is up to us to keep our concentration levels at a peak against Uddingston.

"There is very little between the sides so it is imperative that we are at our sharpest to get the win we want." To get to this stage the Knights have beaten Corstorphine, Grange, Ferguslie and Arbroath United and there have been some outstanding individual performances.

Against Ferguslie, in round three, overseas amateurs Stevie Smidt and Wynand Schmitt shared a 200-plus partnership as the side ran up a record club score of 383, while with the ball Scotland player Safyaan Sharif has picked up six wickets and Smidt, Kevin McLaren, Yasir Arfat, Vasu Reddy and Amir Shazhad have all produced match-winning performances.

Gibson has been disappointed with some of the league showings but is looking for the side to produce their best this weekend.

"At times we have batted really poorly as a team but now is the time that we need the lads to perform as a solid unit," he said.

"Application will be so important at Lochlands and if we can produce our best form there is no doubt that we can bring the cup home." Skipper Rai is delighted to be able to welcome back Sharif to his plans after he missed last weekend's league fixture through international duty with Scotland.

He added, "Safy is a big player for us with bat and ball and we missed him against Stoneywood/Dyce but he will be back for our biggest game of the season." Uddingston's most dangerous player is former Scotland internationalist Paul Hoffman, who can be a devastating hitter and handy seam bowler, while batsman Calum McLeod has featured in the Scots' 50 overs-a-side team and is an excellent fielder.

Their best bowler is skipper Ricky Bawa, who can pose a lot of problems in the right conditions. The Dunfermline line-up, in batting order, will be: Gowtham Rai, Kevin McLaren, Wynand Schmitt, Stevie Smidt, Safy Sharif, Amir Shazhad, Vasu Reddy, Cammy Farrell, Siva Jayanathan, Ben Wilkinson and Yasir Arfat. Twelfth man: Jamie Penman.